The Awakening: Forest in Ruin
by Wes Hough
Summary: Deirdre goes in search of her friends, only to find a new enemy. PG-13 for violence


There had been many attacks throughout the night. He was ready. "Prince Garrett! They're coming!" the warrior screamed. The young prince looked up to see small demons scurry toward him. 

"Take this, ya' demons!" Garrett held up his axes and a stream of magic shot outward, hitting the demons and knocking them back. More demons scurried towards him, and he knew he could not kill them all. "Roll back!" he commanded and the knights followed. 

The troops ran back towards the inner gate of the castle, hoping to block them in the outer court. The warriors made it across the drawbridge, but it didn't close. The metal chains connecting the castle and drawbridge had rusted, making lifting the bridge impossible. 

"They're coming!" the general yelled, preparing for battle. The demons came at him like a hungry pack or wolves. They jumped on him and the troops, gnawing away at the leather armor they wore.

"'Ya can chew through leather, but not through plate mail. Forest before me!" Leaves flew around him, changing his normal leather armor into glorious shining iron armor. 

The demons saw the armor, but continued to take out the knights. Garrett held up his axes and fired, sending a few of them to their deaths. He had only taken out a couple, and he knew there were many more left. He needed to find the main one and kill it. He looked around, but all he saw were the normal blue monsters. Then he saw it. A bright yellow demon, a little bit bigger than the rest. It's four bony legs held it up off the ground, it's tail was smashing a soldier's carcass. Its small eyes looked strait into Garrett's. It had strange purple eyes with a white pupil. It jumped up, hurtling toward the young prince. It's right claw made contact with the prince's left shoulder, putting a scratch through the armor. Garrett flinched and fell back. "Yer' one strong little demon, aren't ya'?" he asked, knowing the monster would not respond. The demon's purple eyes gazed into his. "Now, you will back away slowly, and take all your lousy troops with you," he instructed, using his magic link with the monster. The monster's eyes began to glow white. A white barrier enwrapped the monster. "Huh? What happened? I've always been able to charm monsters, why isn't it working now?" the prince asked himself. The monster leapt up towards him, slashing Garrett across his face with a bony claw. Garrett fell back, landing in a pile of corpses. He opened his eyes, only to see the demon there, with one paw raised, ready to strike. 

She had been searching for the kingdom for days. The sun was beginning to set. "Well, we might as well set up camp for tonight. I'll get everything ready when we get over this ridge," Deirdre said to Terra. The horse whinnied in agreement. They were almost over the ridge when Deirdre sighted smoke coming from the other side of the hill. She hit the horse on its side to make it go faster. When they reached the top she looked in terror at what stood before her. 

The entire kingdom lay in waste, from every hut to the giant castle pillars. She could see no lifeless bodies, only corpses scattered around. "What happened here?" she asked. He instructed the horse to ride her into town. Terra did as she was told and slowly walked into town. There was nobody still alive. Corpses were scattered around, some missing various body parts. She could tell that this was the work of pure evil. As she rode throughout the town, she saw something scamper across her path. She pulled out her crossbow and steadied it in front of her. "Show yourself. I will not hurt you, unless you provoke me," she yelled. Hordes of small creatures swamped out of the huts and ran towards her. She was shocked. She had seen Maeve's monsters, but nothing like these. She raised her bow and started to shoot them, but more kept coming. She knew she would not be able to defeat them all, so she commanded the horse to retread. The swarm ran after her, but to her luck the monsters were slower than Terra. Deirdre could see the drawbridge ahead. She raised her bow and shot at the hinges of the bridge, causing it to fall into the moat. "Now Terra, you need to jump when we get to the moat," Deirdre told her. The horse whinnied in reply. They were at the moat, and the horse ran as fast as she could, and then jumped. They landed safely inside the castle. "I'd love to see ya jump that," she taunted. The monsters, on the other side of the moat, jumped up and down in anger. Deirdre laughed, and entered the castle doors.

She was in complete shock when she saw the inside of the castle. There were more bodies, their armor torn open, and their weapons protruding through their backs. She preyed that Garrett had not suffered the same fate. She saw something run across the passageway, a bright yellow blur. She instructed the horse to slowly advance, and so it did. She was slowly led to the throne room, where the door had been torn down and the kingdom banner ripped and strewn across the opening. "Garrett? Are you in here? Huh?" 

There was a strange woman standing at the throne. She had dark black hair and wore a sleek black dress. "Hello, my dear. So I see you finally made it. You truly are worthy of your title as Mystic knight of air," the woman said. "You seem confused. You're wondering, 'is Garrett here, and what am I doing here,' aren't you?"

"You have no idea what I'm thinking, you witch, now where is he?" Deirdre commanded as she raised her crossbow.

"What a rude little girl. I have no more business with you. Blood Fang, get her." The woman disappeared and a small, bright yellow monster appeared. It was about two feet long, with four long, bony limbs that held it up. It's tail was flailing, the tip of it equipped with a small, bony spike. It hissed at her and jumped up to Deirdre's eye level. She jumped off of the horse right before the monster swiped. She told Terra to go and take shelter, and the horse did as it was told. Now Deirdre was face to face with Blood Fang. 

"Now, what have you done with Garrett, you little Hell demon?" she commanded. The monster hissed and jumped up. Deirdre took no time to shoot a whirlwind at the demon. The wind hit him with full force. The small body now lay sprawled on the ground.She kicked it to make sure it was dead, and it was. She looked around the room, but saw nothing. A sound came from the small closet, a faint sound that made Deirdre shake in fear. "Who's there?" she asked, but there was no response. With a raised weapon she slowly opened the closet door. 

There laid Garret, tattered and bloody. He had a scratch across his face, from his forehead down to his chin. His axe was in hand, but it was in two pieces, the hilt separate from the blade. Deirdre quickly put her bow away and knelt down by him. She put her hand on his cheek. His skin was cold. She whistled and Terra came. She picked up Garrett and put him on the horse. "What am I going to do?" she thought. "There aren't any medics or alchemists to help him, and we're days away from Kells. Wait! Ivar! His kingdom is only a day away from here, but I would need a boat. Surely this kingdom has one." They ran to the dicks in search of a boat. 

There was one the perfect size for all three of them. Deirdre placed Garrett in the boat gently, and then had the horse get in. She untied the string that kept the boat connected to the port. They began to float outwards, away from the docks. Deirdre took a paddle and started rowing. They were off, all alone in the ocean, without help, or escape from anything that threatened them. 


End file.
